Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - DP130075
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED331059 AUTHOR: Aber, John
TITLE: Political Commitment in the Writing Class: A Look at
the Practice of Five Teachers.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1991
NOTE: 11 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Conference on College Composition and Communication (42nd,
Boston, MA, March 21-23, 1991).
ABSTRACT: Five college writing teachers who consider
themselves critically and politically progressive were
interviewed to see how much their political views
influenced what they did in their composition classes. The
comments of the teachers suggest that although they are
very sensitive to the students' needs and go out of their
way to accept diverse views in the classroom, they are much
more political in the classroom than they give themselves
credit for. They may use standard texts in their classes,
and they may ask their students to proofread a paper with
the aid of a handbook--yet they still seem to focus some of
their assignments on the kinds of issues that many in the
teaching profession would consider politically charged,
such as race, class, and gender. The writing teachers
interviewed, however, certainly do not pose any threat to
the status quo in their institutions or in their
departments. They know it is not wise to alienate their
students and colleagues by assuming a radical political
stance. Yet these teachers also feel that they are
shortchanging their students if they deny
them the chance to think and write about the difficult
problems that the American culture does not always want to
confront. (PRA)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Consciousness-Raising; Critical-Thinking;
Cultural-Context; Higher-Education; Interviews-; Political
Influences; Writing-Assignments
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Political-Attitudes; *Political-Issues;
*Teacher-Attitudes; *Writing-Instruction; *Writing-Teachers
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